The State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Mr. Paata Zakareishvili made a statement on the case of Giorgi Lukava, who is held in custody in Abkhazia.
According to the State Minister, negotiations on the release of illegal prisoners between Georgian, Abkhazian and Ossetian sides started actively in May 2015.
“Talks on the release of illegal prisoners intensified since May 2015. Abkhazian side handed over 9 prisoners, accepting nothing in return (one of them declined to be released personally to me). However, at all stages, Abkhazian side principally asserted that they would not review the release of Giorgi Lukava. On December 4, negotiation process was actually completed. However, from December 4 to March 10, we continued negotiations for the release of Giorgi Lukava, exclusively. We had a principled attitude to transfer Lukava, among others. Unfortunately Abkhazian side maintained opposition straightforwardly. They hold a position that they released Giorgi Lukava already, however he returned back to Gali and committed a crime repeatedly. Afterwards he was detained again, so they do not intend to set him free now.
By March 10, there were three options: first – to wait for the release of Lukava and hold other prisoners until Lukava’s release; second – in such circumstances, the situation might have worsened in the territory of Abkhazia, as there was a high probability that we could not release anybody else; and the third – what we have actually done – I have decided to transport 9 persons from Abkhazia and 5 from Tskhinvali, and to continue work for the release of Lukava. I have never played up to the language of blackmail. And I have no intention to do it. I work for the protection of human rights honestly and not for my salary or my position. Therefore please remain calm. Noise and tension will only harm the negotiation process. At this stage, the reality is difficult – Abkhazians have no willingness to set this person free. However, we shall keep active work on this issue.
Once more, I would like to emphasize that there was no approval from the Abkhaz side to release Lukava at any stage. Whenever we mentioned his name, Abkhazians rebuffed. His spouse claims that it were Abkhazians who were ready to release Giorgi Lukava, but we declined. This is a lie! And there is no basis to claim this. Why should we need to refuse Lukava’s release whilst transferring all the rest 9 persons? If Mrs. Lali Lukava keeps telling this legend, I would kindly ask her to provide a surname of the Abkhazian who support his claim; afterwards, I will work this out by myself,” – Mr. Paata Zakareishvili declared.